Before leaving my own comments about the TV series GOOD TIMES, I feel that I simply MUST comment on the remarks of one Mr. Larry Wall. If you didn't like the show, fine, but some of your reasons for disliking it are totally erroneous. To wit:
1. "Thelma dressed like a slut": These must be the HBO episodes! I was always surprised that, considering the way Bernadette Stanis was built, they kept her covered up most of the time. She hardly showed any cleavage, the hemlines of her skirts and dresses were quite low. Her pants and jeans may have been tight but then again, in the Seventies, WHOSE weren't?
2. "(The Evanses were) living like animals": Not hardly. I can honestly say that our family was a little bit like the Evanses and we DIDN'T live in the projects neither. If, as you say, the head of the household is always losing his job, it's going to be kind of hard to keep a roof over your head and food on the table. It's kind of hard to eat fillet mignon on a hot dog budget.
3. "(James) threatened with violence for everything. I don't remember him sitting down and explaining (anything)": You must have missed those episodes, I can remember numerous times when James sat down and talked things out without yelling or threatening to take off his belt. In fact, there was even one episode when he apologized to Michael, which in turn led to Michael feeling as if he could apologize for acting up in school.
4. "James got in front of white people and did that stupid laugh": Wrong! If you look at the show again, you will see that James would do the laugh (A-heh-heh-heh!) only when he got caught in a lie by Florida. Usually about an old girlfriend.
5. "Michael . . . would get put down (for his militantism) and made to seem foolish . . .": Those scenes were done to show to Michael that everything wasn't as simple as black-and-white, so to speak. Example: Florida's rich cousin announces that he had just been laid off from his high-paying job.
Michael: "I'll bet the only reason you were fired was because you're black." Cousin: "Well, if they did, then they also fired six other men because they were white." Get the picture?
6. "It says we're content to live like . . . animals": You could say a lot of things about the Evanses and Willona, but you can't say that they were content with their lot in life. James was always looking for better paying jobs. J.J. (yes, I will admit that he was a BIT much) kept working at his painting as well as looking for artistic jobs. Thelma wanted to be a dancer (and, no, not a stripper). Michael let a street gang know that he wanted more with his life than to settle for being a ghetto resident. To paraphrase Florida in one episode: there is no such thing as a waste of hope.
For the most part, I liked the show during the "James Years". The humor was believable and came from the heart. After John Amos left, the quality of the show really went down. When Ester Rolle left, it took an even bigger dive. Adding Janet Jackson did NOT help things any. When Rolle returned, the damage had been done too far to repair. Mr. Wall, I hope you will look at the show again and think over your past comments. You will see that they DEFINITELY do not apply to the show that was on then.
